If elections are about the future, Georgia's gubernatorial race suggests Republicans are screwed

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When former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia had his chance at Sunday night’s debate to make an opening argument for his 2022 gubernatorial bid, he bypassed offering Peach State voters a vision for the future.

“First off, let me be very clear tonight, the election in 2020 was rigged and stolen,” Perdue began his second debate with sitting GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, carried by Atlanta’s WSB-TV. Perdue said Democratic control of the federal government resulted because Kemp “caved” and allowed “radical Democrats to steal our elections.”

In fact, numerous investigations and multiple recounts all concluded that Joe Biden was the rightful 2020 winner, as were Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock.

But Perdue’s opening salvo kicked off nearly 25 minutes of bare-knuckle brawling between the two GOP rivals over who bore responsibility for the historic losses last cycle of both Donald Trump and the two incumbent Republican senators—one of whom was Perdue.

This portion of the debate, centered entirely on 2020, included a series of barbs and recriminations.

Perdue pummeled Kemp for failing to call a special session to overturn the election following Trump’s loss and claimed he had asked the governor to do so repeatedly.

But Kemp, who spent hours on Perdue’s bus campaigning for his reelection, blasted Perdue for failing to ever ask for a special session. “Folks, he never asked me,” Kemp told the audience.

Kemp also turned Perdue’s loss back on him. “You have a candidate that is going to attack my record, unfortunately, all night tonight, because they didn’t have a record there to beat Jon Ossoff in 2020,” he said.

Perdue offered, “Weak leaders take credit when things go well, and blame someone else when it doesn’t.”

Kemp retorted, “Weak leaders blame everybody else for their own loss instead of themselves.”

Kemp, who is comfortably ahead in the polls and has vastly outraised Perdue, also sought to focus some of his energy on Democrat Stacey Abrams, who will face off against whichever Republican prevails in the primary.

“Looking in the rearview mirror,” Kemp said, isn’t the key to defeating Abrams in the general election.

But both GOP candidates offered disparaging views of why their rival would fumble a matchup with Abrams. Kemp said Perdue’s loss against Ossoff was proof positive that he wasn’t up to the task of defeating Abrams.

But Perdue said Kemp “barely beat Stacey Abrams in ’18,” after Kemp eked out a victory by a 1.4% margin. In that matchup, Perdue added, he had secured Trump’s endorsement for Kemp, who no longer enjoys Trump’s backing now.

“He has divided us,” Perdue charged of Kemp. “He will not be able to beat Stacey Abrams. And if we want to protect our freedom and our values, we have to vote and we have to make sure that Stacey is never our governor.”

On that point, the candidates agreed—making sure Abrams would “never” become Georgia’s governor or “your next president,” as Kemp put it.

But if there’s was one person in Georgia who thought the entire spectacle was simply peachy, it was Abrams.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the very first ad that aired on WSB following the hour-long GOP slugfest was an Abrams spot featuring her small business with her conservative entrepreneur partner.

Georgia Democrats also got in on the action, tweeting out video of the two Republicans bickering and saying they had shown “they are bad for each other — and worse for Georgia.”

Georgia is quickly turning into the most crucial of swing states. Not only do GOP hopes of retaking the U.S. Senate majority increasingly run through Georgia, it will also be a pivotal battleground in the 2024 presidential election. Having a Democratic governor in place to blunt the GOP-dominated state legislature could literally be the difference between a Democratic White House and a Republican one.

And frankly, nothing could be better for Democrats than Perdue’s fixation on 2020 and the notion that Kemp betrayed Trump and, by extension, his MAGA base. The more Kemp nauseates Trumpers, the better. Kemp will likely prevail in the GOP primary, and a deflated MAGA base is exactly the type of boost that could help Democrats Abrams and Sen. Warnock prevail in the general election.